Will Yang Hengjun’s recent sentence escalate tensions between Australia and China?

China has sentenced another Australian journalist following accusations of spying on its government. Scholar and novelist, Dr Yang Hengjun, was handed a suspended death sentence by a court in Beijing. The terms of the sentences, according to a report by Aljazeera, stated that he is likely to be commuted to life imprisonment after two for good behaviour. He has been imprisoned for the past five years.

The facts

Dr Yang Hengjun is not the first Australian journalist to be detained by the Chinese government.

About four months ago, Chinese-born Australian journalist, Cheng Lei, was released after three years of being detained in China. She was charged of supplying state secrets overseas. She worked as a journalist for CGTN, the English language channel of China Central Television.

Dr Yang worked for China’s Ministry of State Security. He was nicknamed the “democracy peddler”. He was a resident in New York. He was intercepted at the airport when he travelled to Guangzhou in January 2019 with his wife and her child, both of Chinese descent.

Both Yang and Cheng denied the allegations levelled against them. The Australian government, displeased with Yang’s new verdict said it is “appalled by this outcome”.

In 2018, Australia-China ties began to decline as concerns about Chinese political influence in Australia’s media, government, and higher education as well as China’s position on the South China Sea dispute intensified. It worsened after Cheng Li’s arrest.

China and Australia’s tensions subsided after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese made the move to visit the Asian country. He was the first Australian leader to visit the Asian country in November 2023 after the hiatus which lasted for seven years.

However, will the Chinese court’s final decision on Dr Yang Hengjun ruin a recently restored relationship?

The arguments

There are various factors that influence tensions between countries and these include political differences, economic issues, national security concerns, diplomatic incidents, and legal cases involving citizens.

Both nations have historically traded bilaterally and through investments. China is Australia’s largest trading partner in terms of imports and exports. Australia, on the other hand, is China’s fifth-largest import source and tenth-largest export destination.

Human rights violations

After Albanese’s visit to China aimed at restoring a deteriorating relationship between both countries, the recent development could open fresh wounds.

Australia’s Foreign Minister, Foreign Minister Penny Wong, is reported to have summoned China’s Ambassador to Australia for an explanation. She informed that her government will communicate its response to Beijing in “strongest terms”.

“We have consistently called for basic standards of justice, procedural fairness and humane treatment for Dr Yang, in accordance with international norms and China’s legal obligations. All Australians want to see Dr Yang reunited with his family. We will not relent in our advocacy,” she said in a statement as reported by the BBC.

Reactions from supporters

Dr Yang’s trial was mostly done behind closed doors, including a secret trial in 2021. His access to legal representation was restricted. The Chinese foreign ministry cautioned authorities not to meddle in the issue and to respect the country’s “judicial sovereignty” when the Australian government voiced concerns over Dr. Yang’s treatment.

Supporters of the 58-year-old writer expressed shock at the punishment. They described the detention as “political persecution”.

In an interview with the BBC Dr Yang’s friend, Feng Chongyi, said the writer is being “punished by the Chinese government for his criticism of human rights abuses in China and his advocacy for universal values such as human rights, democracy and the rule of law”.

Experts reiterated that the sentence will lead to a serious friction on the bilateral relations between the two countries.

“It displays on a wide screen the opacity of the Chinese legal system, its imperviousness to reasonable requests by foreign governments on behalf of their citizens, and its vindictiveness to people who challenge it,” Lowy Institute senior fellow Richard McGregor told the Sydney Morning Herald.

“This sentence is at the most extreme end of the spectrum in terms of what could have been expected. The inescapable conclusion is that he will die in prison.”

China has not made public the specific accusations leveled against him or the nation it claims he was spying for.